Hunger Mountain Co-op reaches settlement

Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier. VTD/Josh Larkin

Tensions have settled at Hunger Mountain Coop after nearly a month of negotiations over employee pay and health benefits. Union representatives went into mediation Tuesday to come to an agreement, and came out five hours later with a contract.

“We’re all happy it’s over and happy that we challenged ourselves to come to this agreement,” said Dave Simpson, president of the United Electrical Workers Local 255 union. Before mediation, the two sides had closed a nearly $300,000 gap in their proposals to $110,000.

The proposals focused on wage increases and employee health benefits. According to a July 1 document released by Hunger Mountain Coop, employees were seeking a 55 cent per hour wage increase and the management was offering a 15 cent per hour increase.

The coop’s health insurance costs were set to go up $130,000 this year and the management was offering to pay $75,000 of that, but sought assistance from the union with the rest.

Simpson said negotiations fell apart as both sides approached the final concessions and neither wanted to budge.

“Both sides, after many sessions, got to the point where they didn’t see the middle ground being where they wanted it,” Simpson said. After management left two negotiation sessions early, Simpson said, they approached union leaders proposing mediation.

Union leaders accepted mediation right away, Simpson said. A few weeks later, the two sides sat in separate rooms as a mediator carried messages back and forth until they reached an agreement.

Kari Bradley, general manager of the coop, said “It really was the mediation that was the key.”

After looking at different ways to close the gap in health care costs, including a requirement that employees contribute to premiums and deductibles, the sides agreed to double the size of the deductibles. Single full-time employees will not have to contribute to premiums under the new plan, Bradley said.

The contract dispute centered on the concept of the livable wage. The state’s Joint Fiscal Office updated its figures for livable wage in January, and Bradley said the coop’s management was using those numbers as their goal for employee pay.

Simpson said in past years, as the coop has grown and continued to strive towards livable wage for all employees, pay increases have been steep.

“The pattern of getting large raises for the purpose of a livable wage seems to be coming to an end,” Simpson said, “but it’s a good thing because we’re almost there.” The union this year had hoped to gain more ground on that front, but ultimately settled for a 30 cent raise, 25 cents below their initial goal and 15 cents above the management’s first offer.

Neither side got everything they wanted, Simpson said, acknowledging that this was a natural part of the democratic process.

“If you want a little of this, then you can give a little of this other thing,” said Simpson.

Bradley said this year’s negotiations were the most difficult he’s dealt with in his seven-year tenure at the coop because of the depressed economy.

“It was more challenging this year, in large part because the budget was tighter this year,” Bradley said.